LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Cooper Kupp said on Monday the adversity his Los Angeles Rams faced during the season drew the team together and served them well in the Super Bowl when they rallied for a late touchdown to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rather than panic when they lost three consecutive games in November, a run that raised questions as to whether they could handle other playoff contenders, Kupp said the Rams, a team flush with big-name talent, came together.
“A lot of times you get into a place where that isn’t the mentality, that’s when the finger pointing starts happening and you feel like you got to start from scratch or rewrite your process and change things,” said Kupp.
“But we believed in what our process was: win or lose we are going to find ways to get better and stay the course.”
That mentality was on full display on Sunday when the Rams, trailing 20-16, got the ball back with six minutes and 13 seconds left in regulation time and 79 yards to go.
Kupp came to the rescue for his team on that final drive as he converted a fourth down and caught four passes, including the game-winning touchdown with 85 seconds left in a 23-20 victory.
It was the second touchdown of the game for Kupp, who was often double-teamed by the Bengals secondary after an injury to fellow receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the first half.
“Football is a game of ebbs and flows, there’s mountains and valleys through a full season, through a game, through a quarter, through a practice week,” said Kupp.
“There’s adversity, it’s inevitable you are going to face it. The belief that we have is that you are a different team at the end of the season than when you start and we want the team to climb.”
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Kupp, who during the regular season became the first player since 2005 to lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, epitomised everything that’s right about his team.
“Just the selflessness, the humility and then the clutch production we had to have it’s unbelievable,” said McVay.
“He’s always been this way but this year especially there was a stillness, there was a peace and there was a joy that he was playing with.
“He’s made such an impact on me and guys like Cooper Kupp are why you coach and I just feel so blessed to be around somebody as special as him.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
